You may have read the news last week in the Los Angeles Times that Theresa Erickson, a lawyer who specializes in reproductive law, and two others, Hilary Neiman and Carla Chambers, pleaded guilty in federal court “in connection with what prosecutors described as a ‘baby-selling ring,’” wrote Los Angeles Times writer Alan Zarembo.
In brief, the “ring” appeared to have involved paying women to become pregnant as surrogates before parents were found. Zarembo describes the ring in his article: “The defendants waited until the surrogates were 12 weeks pregnant before shopping them around to prospective parents in the U.S. Couples were told that existing surrogacy arrangements had fallen through but that they could step in — for a price of $100,000 to $150,000.” After arranging a deal with a couple, Erickson, who is also the author of the 2010 book, Surrogacy and Embryo, Sperm & Egg Donation: What Were You Thinking: Considering IVF and Third-Party Reproduction, would file a fraudulent document with the court stating that the surrogacy arrangement had been in place from the start.
Read the full LA Times story here.
As anyone who’s considered or gone through surrogacy can attest, it can be a difficult, expensive, and complex undertaking. If you’ve used a donor or surrogate what was your experience like? How did you manage the legal side?
